Methods for Accelerating Alcohol Detox

If you’ve ever had a hangover, you know that detoxing from alcohol can be an unpleasant affair. If you’re deciding to stop drinking and enter recovery, you may be wondering “How long does alcohol withdrawal last? Is there anything I can do to make it go faster?”

Don’t Get Fooled

A quick internet search will offer many options for home remedies and tips (including products to buy) that claim to make a detox from alcohol progress more quickly. You know when there are links to Pinterest that you’ve Googled a popular subject! However, the buyer should beware of such claims. Here are a few of the ineffective and potentially dangerous home remedies and tips such a search may yield:

Black coffee

Cold showers

Detox tea

Electrolyte replacement drinks

Essential oils

Intense aerobic exercise

Using any of these will do very little to impact the length of your detox, and there is really no safe way to accelerate the process. If you are addicted to alcohol, undergoing detox and withdrawal can be medically complicated and is potentially life-threatening. Drinking causes problems, but stopping drinking can become a medical emergency.

Duration of Alcohol Withdrawal

The length of withdrawal from an alcohol dependency depends upon two key factors:

The condition of your liver. Alcohol is detoxified by your liver and if your liver is healthy, the withdrawal process happens more quickly. If your liver is unhealthy from years of heavy drinking, or if you have liver disease, your withdrawal will take longer.

How much you consumed. Very roughly, it takes a normal liver one hour to detoxify one drink (one 12 ounce beer, one 8 ounce glass of wine, or a one ounce shot of hard liquor). The more you consume, the longer it takes to detoxify. Nothing — no amount of food, exercise, coffee or tea — can significantly change that.

Safety First

If you are thinking about stopping drinking, get help. Seek a treatment professional and be honest about your alcohol dependency. Share your drinking history – how much you’ve been drinking and for how long. A medically supervised detox can be the safest and most comfortable way to get through an uncomfortable and scary process. Start your recovery off by treating yourself well, valuing your health and safety, and making good choices. By doing this, you are building an excellent foundation for your ongoing recovery.

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The Ranch offers residential treatment for addictions and mental health disorders in Tennessee and Pennsylvania. Our experienced treatment teams draw on evidence-based and experiential therapies to create personalized treatment plans that help people transform their lives.

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